(Eric Leclerc ∙ Braden Root-McCaig ∙ Rob Lavergne ∙ Jean-Luc Dupont ∙ Réal Boucher ∙ Chris Pilsworth ∙ John Pert ∙ Mark Aronoff)
à May 2007
Our Year in Review:
The “2006-2007” season provided plenty of magic and learning opportunities for
the members of The Ottawa Society of Magicians - Ring 151. In October, members enjoyed a lecture presented by
Shoot Ogawa. His flawless performance was a treat to watch. Routines with cards,
coins, thimbles and his Ninja Rings kept everyone’s attention throughout the
lecture. He was a true professional with a passion for magic and teaching.
It was just one month later that Darwin Ortiz visited the club. Darwin’s
precision handling of a deck of cards was fascinating. He made everything look
easy.
Alan Ackerman was in town for a lecture in January. Another evening of card
magic (with a few other effects) had everyone scratching their heads in
amazement. His “honest” handling of a deck of cards made everything seem fair,
but we now know that playing poker with Mr. Ackerman is not a good idea.
Patrick Page lectured in April. He is a versatile performer with an endless
supply of humor. We were all envious of his wealth of magical knowledge.
More than magic: Congratulations to Denis St. Jean and Glenn Brown who both
became Grandfathers this year. John Pert’s second child, Ellen, was born on
Christmas day. Roy Cottee continues to be recovering well from the stroke that
he had one year ago.
Special events make the year even more fun. Members gathered at the Lucky Key in
December for a little Christmas cheer. Of course, the evening included a little
magic, but it was really about the magic of the season that brought everyone
together.
The club’s annual “Rehab” show was held in
March. Roy Cottee, Eric Jodouin, David Oxley, John Pert, Chris Pilsworth and
guest, John Ha gave a
Close-up performance that left the patient’s in good spirits. Magic is a
wonderful medicine and everyone benefits from its prescription.
Several members (past and present) traveled to Kitchener for the Canadian
Association of Magicians convention in June. Everyone got their moneys
worth and more with the top notch lecturers and performers brought in by CAM
President Joan Caesar and her team. Our own, Eric Leclerc, earned first place in
the Close-up Competition. Congratulations, Eric!
Our year of magic concluded with a barbeque hosted by Rob Lavergne. Those in attendance
enjoyed great food, drink and conversation as well as a challenging Magic
Trivia Quiz put together by John Pert.
Thanks again, Rob for a great time, you’re an excellent host!
By John Pert
June 13th: 2007-2008 Elections
Attendees: Mark Aronoff, Pierre Bourgeau, Roy Cottee, Luc LaFleur, Rob Lavergne, Jack Marshall, Denis St-Jean.
Well this was our last regular meeting of the season before our Year-End-Party, and with the CAM Magic Convention starting on June 14th, we had as expected a more intimate session. No Elections were held and as discussed at an earlier executive meeting, a decision regarding the elections will be made next season by the interim executive formed by Dave Oxley, John Pert and Jack Marshall.
The evening started out casually, with time to talk and reminisce.
Denis St-Jean had brought in a tape of two of his performances at the F.F.F.F. convention at ages 40 and 42, where he had performed The Dead Man’s Hand and Daryl’s Card Printing Routine, using Daryl as his assisting volunteer (very funny stuff).
Pierre Bourgeau started the live performances rolling with a card-matching routine that he had been working on since the Allan Ackerman lecture. He had obviously put in the time necessary to master this effect and we were all amazed by the routine and its surprising conclusion.
Denis St-Jean then went into “live-mode” and performed a metalism effect with three colored markers, revealing the color of an “X” secretly written on a card by a volunteer. This effect left several of the members scratching their heads.
Mark Aronoff, inspired by Denis’s performance, demonstrated a possible lead-in effect to Denis’s Marker Revelation. With his back turned to the volunteer, Mark had the three markers mixed and was then able to reveal the marker picked up by the volunteer. This was followed by a trick he had just been taught by Rob’s out-of-town magical guest from Vancouver, Jens Henriksen. Mark played a one-on-one game of Poker with Roy allowing Roy every choice of card and yet Mark was left with a Royal Flush in spades.
Roy Cottee, followed along with this recurring theme of revelations, Roy had a coin hidden under one of three cups and was repeatedly able to reveal the location of the coin. This effect provoked a great deal of discussion and experimentation. Apparently Roy once used this one effect to procure a lucrative booking.
Rob Lavergne then absolutely devastated the group with a cumulative set of card-predictions which became increasingly more impressive (and funny) with each revelation. With any luck, he will perform this trick next season as part of his initiation show and everyone will get a chance to witness this very entertaining routine.
Pierre Bourgeau provided the catering for the meeting, treating us all to Chinese Egg Rolls and plum sauce.
- By Mark Aronoff
June 20th: Annual Year End Party
Attendees: Mark Aronoff, Pierre Bourgeau, Roy Cottee, Francois Gosselin, David Kirkland, Luc Lafleure, Rob Lavergne, B.M., David Oxley, John Pert, Denis St-Jean, Pierre Trottier.
Guest: John Fremont.
And so another season of the Ottawa Society of Magicians has come to an end with a fantastic Year-End-Party thrown by our every cheerful and enthusiastic, Rob Lavergne, three Big Cheers for Rob!
The attendees started arriving towards four in the afternoon in order to help Rob with some last minute preparations. Denis St-Jean was one of the early arrivals, and he went right to work with photographing the events as they unfolded (Year End BBQ Pictures). John Fremont, one of our past members, was there to help out with the barbequing; many thanks go to John for his culinary talents.
As usual Rob planned everything to a “T” and there was a never ending supply of finger foods, beer, wine and soft drinks to keep everything humming while the roasts roasted and the attendees toasted. Everyone had a great time socializing and reviewing the events of the season, there were even a few decks of cards visible now and then.
Dinner was served buffet style and since the weather was on our side we all congregated at a table set out on the patio to enjoy Roast Beef, Grilled Veggies, Caesar salad, Potato Salad, Rolls, Wine, Beer and finally Pie for dessert, suffice to say nobody went home hungry.
After dinner it was down to the wreck room where John Pert, our club secretary, made the presentation of the Magician of the Year Award. This year the award went to Roy Cottee, for his untiring efforts towards making the season a success. Roy was caught off guard with the presentation and very modestly accepted the award with a touching speech.
After the award presentation John Pert presented us with a surprise trivia contest, which was not too trivial. The winner of the contest was Pierre Bourgeau, to whom our host Rob graciously presented a 100% genuine, spanking new, hermitically sealed, Bicycle brand deck of Playing cards. Congratulations Pierre, we expect marvelous things from you next season.
Well that’s a wrap, everyone have a really great summer and remember to spend a little time practicing up for the September re-commencement!
Thanks to everyone who put their efforts towards making this season a success!
- By Mark Aronoff
May 9th: Initiation Shows - Colourful Magic Executive nominations
May 23rd: Trio Magic, Mini Lecture, Open Night
April 11th: (Our 50th Anniversary Party), Torn/Cut and Restored Magic
· Paper, thread, rope, wire, etc… Just make sure you put it back together.
· Executive nominations
April 20th: Lecture: Patrick Page
· $25 – Members
· $35 – Non-members
The month of April brought us one of the biggest names in magic; Patrick Page visited us in Ottawa. This was the most versatile lecture I have seen in a long time. Everything from silks, cards, coins, thimbles, thumb-tips and ropes was covered. He literally was a walking encyclopedia of magic. His thoughts on misdirection and constructing a powerful magic routine were insightful and polished. (Pat Page Pictures)
Pat’s Scottish charm and clever methods had us laughing out loud and scratching our heads in disbelief. The first trick he taught us is the one I will remember and use forever. It was a clever handkerchief fold that allows the magician to make anything vanish from within the silk. It really fools the eye and the brain all at once, what a beauty!
He showed us the most blatant yet effective false shuffle known to man. A cut and restored rope where you never need to replace your rope. Clever thumb tip maneuvers, a clever source for quality thimbles, a great Cards-to-Pocket and a killer Miser’s Dream routine.
All in all there was WAY TOO MUCH magic to list here, but one thing’s for sure, I am grateful to have had a chance to see one of magic’s living legends in action. At 78 years of age, he was still rocking it with amazing dexterity and the funniest one-liners to grace our ears. Thanks for an amazing evening Mr. Page!
- By Eric Leclerc
March 6th: The Annual Rehab Show.
On March 6, 2007 the club presented its annual show at the Rehab Centre. Performers in attendance were: Roy Cottee, Eric Jodouin, David Oxley, John Pert, Chris Pilsworth and guest, John Ha.
For the first time in this setting the club presented a program consisting entirely of close-up magic. Two tables were set allowing half of the patients to watch at each table. All the magicians gave a ten minute set at each table. The patients were enthusiastic and it was a great evening of entertainment for them.
Following the show, the performers made a quick trip over to Robbie’s restaurant for the traditional post-show pizza party.
The format for this event worked very well and I recommend that the club continue in this way in the future.
- By Chris Pilsworth
March 14th: Quirky, Strange, Bizarre or Novelty Magic.
· Surprise us.
· Catering by: Braden Root-McCaig
Attendees: Mark Aronoff, Réal Boucher, Roy Cottee, Luc LaFleur, Rob Lavergne, Jack Marshall, Dave Oxley , Chris Pilsworth, and Braden Root-McCaig.
Guests: Greydon Gilmore and Ben Weir.
Chris Pilsworth started off the evening demonstrating his haunted silk that managed to untie itself. Then, with Luc’s help, Chris was able to photograph the ghostly image of Luc’s thought of card hovering by Luc’s head, leaving Luc with a memento of the magical moment.
Dave Oxley produced four Kings from a shuffled deck of cards and then, using a magic card from his pocket, changed the backs of the four Kings from blue to red. Finally, the red backed Kings turned to the four Aces. Dave then went on to demonstrate his powers of suggestion by preventing volunteer Rob Lavergne, from lifting a pencil from Dave’s hand. Luckily, Dave reversed the suggestion and Rob should be fine in future pencil encounters.
Jack Marshall confounded the group with a politically incorrect intelligence test that left us all laughing.
Our first guest, Greydon Gilmore from London Ontario, performed a beautiful handling of Darwin Ortiz’s Jumping Gemini, which involved an ambitious Four of Spades… no wait, make that the Ten of Hearts… no that’s not right either, they were all Kings.
Our second guest, Ben Weir, warmed up with a few contortions, rotating his arm 360 degrees and then reversing his elbow joint (ouch!). Next Ben demonstrated Stigmata using, Roy to squeeze his chosen card onto Ben’s wrist.
Roy Cottee went to the race track with Mark, Rob, and Dave assisting and a little insight from Toni Koynini’s Derby. Roy used four Aces to represent horses, several toothpicks to represent the track and the rest of the deck to determine the play. Keeping us in suspense through the race, Roy managed a narrow victory to win the pot.
Back by popular request our new guest Ben Weir showed us his money-maker, when the Ace of Diamonds sandwiched between the Two and Three of diamonds changed inexplicably to the Ace of Hearts, in a take on Fearson’s Aces.
Rob Lavergne stepped up to do a one-handed trick. After selecting a card (with a one handed cut) Rob dealt out the deck (with one hand of course) showing the card had vanished. The trick was on us however, when the card was produced with his other hand from his pants pocket.
After some snacks provided by yours truly, the group was back at it, Braden Root-McCaig demonstrated Pinnacle, relating a story from his job at Canadian Tire, while he linked a finger ring on and off an elastic band.
- By Braden Root-McCaig
March 28th: Open Night.
· Catering by: Roy Cottee
Attendees: Mark Aronoff, Réal Boucher, Roy Cottee, Dave Kirkland, Rob Lavergne, Jack Marshall, Brian “M”, Dave Oxley, Chris Pilsworth and Braden Root-McCaig.
Guest Star: Ben Weir.
Well Spring is in the air and the creative juices are once again flowing, as could be seen at this past meeting. We saw a few faces that had been missed during the colder months and everyone seemed to have something new to perform in fact most members had several effects to show us.
Chris Pilsworth opened the evening with two new effects that he was working on. The first involved a clear drinking glass and the sudden appearance of a little red ball. The second, a counter-intuitive, gravity-defying race between Chris’s favorite porcelain drinking mug (his since childhood) and a tiny worthless metal washer - both fastened together by a length of string, draped over a stick and left to the mercy of the forces of gravity, an experiment as exciting as this one had not been performed since a young Galileo dropped differently weighted water balloons off the “Leaning Tower of Pisa” onto the unsuspecting pedestrians below. Could anyone predict the final outcome?
Roy Cottee performed one of his original effects involving a clear drinking glass wrapped in newspaper and a little red ball which was put through it’s paces as it appeared, disappeared, multiplied, divided and finally gave up and went home along with the glass, the newspaper and eventually Roy… whom we look forward to seeing again at our next meeting.
Our guest, Ben Weir showed us his versions of a few Jay Sankey routines; “Graffiti”, which had Roy selecting a card which had his name already written on it, and “Body Guards” a version of Alex Elmsley’s “Point of Departure”. He also adroitly performed Paul Harris’s “Cross Twist” and then amazed us further with his presentation of the “Marked Quarter into Sealed Coke Can” mystery. What prey tell will Ben have up his sleeve to amaze us with on his next visit?
Rob Lavergne performed two baffling displays of clairvoyance; the first was the prediction of which card would be freely named from a group of ten and the second involved the divination of which one of five marked rods was sealed in an impregnable, hermetically sealed metal cylinder. We have officially elected Rob to head up our lottery pool.
Brian “M” performed a little “Bizarre Magik”, causing the likeness of a chosen Tarot Card to appear within a small antique picture frame. We look forward to more enchantments of this kind from our ever enigmatic “Man of Mystery”.
Dave Oxley, following in the footsteps of Dr. Rhine, conducted an experiment involving four volunteers and a pack of Zener Cards (the standard 25 card pack made up of Circles, Crosses, Wavy Lines, Squares and Stars). With one card placed aside unseen and the other cards divided up amongst the four helpers, Dave managed to have each of the four assisting volunteers randomly pick four different symbols, with the one unpicked symbol being the value of the card previously placed aside. The odds of this happening by chance, outside of our meetings at Jack’s house, are astronomically small and this probably warrants further investigation.
Dave Kirkland invited a volunteer to join him at the card table and then demonstrated some coincidences of his own. Dave removed and put aside four unseen cards from a deck of playing cards and divided the remainder of the deck into four piles. Dave then had a volunteer cut one Ace into the middle of each of the four piles. The four cards previously placed aside were then used to indicate the location of each Ace within its pile. Another mind-numbing demonstration to add to the virtual potpourri of entertainment this evening.
Braden Root-McCaig just went “Nuts” with an assortment of hardware from Canadian Tire. Nuts and Bolts appeared and vanished at a blistering speed in Braden’s capable hands, but eventually they all got “Screwed”, such is life! We look forward to more creative madness from our own “Mr. Fix-It”.
Réal Boucher entertained us with a comedic presentation of Billy McComb’s “McComical Prediction”. We knew his prediction was going to be wrong but just when we thought we had him, he pulled the old “Switcheroo” on us and came out the winner. Okay, so you got us this time Réal, but we’re going to be watching mighty close next time.
Mark Aronoff finished off the evening by bringing out some of his old “Table Hopping” favorites from the mothballs. With the help of Chris and Braden as his assistants, Mark did his time-tested sponge-balls routine, plucking the little balls from a purse frame and making them jump “hither and thither and Yawn” and then finally vanish all together. Mark then performed one of his own creations, a card trick he called “The Elevator Trick” which he kept reserved especially for young children. This was followed by his presentation of the “Mullica Wallet”. Mark ended his set, with his version of Don Allan’s Chop Cup routine, a personal favorite of his.
Roy Cottee provided the evening’s snacks of fresh baked goodies (many thanks to Roy and Roy’s wife Margo!).
- By Mark Aronoff
February 14th: Gambling, Scams and “Betchas”.
· Fool us with cards, dice, shells, etc.
· Catering by: Réal Boucher.
The worst snowstorm of the year combined with Valentines Day evening resulted in a small turnout at the meeting but we still had fun and performed magic.
Attendees: Jack Marshall, Roy Cote and Réal Boucher
The theme for the night was Gambling. Mr. Cottee, our expert in gambling, started the evening. He performed one of the best gambling routines I have ever seen, accompanied by the nicest story line I have ever heard. He used the story of Moustache Sam, the second dealer man’s poker hand, to demonstrate a second deal during a poker game. Amazing and very entertaining!
The host, Jack Marshall, our card expert performed his version of Card Warp which was really baffling. I have seen many versions of Card Warp but his surpassed them all! He did not stop there; he also performed the Linking Rings without metal rings! This Card Shark used two cards; he cut two holes in the middle of each card and then proceeded to link them. I checked and there was no rips in either card. The only way to unlink them was to actually tear one of the cards! Perfectly executed! Bravo!
Réal Boucher, finished off the evening with his version of the Ring and String Routine, followed by one of his favourite dice routines, “It’s the Rules”. After which everyone partook in a snack of Nachos and Dip provided by the evening’s caterer, yours truly, Réal Boucher.
- By Réal Boucher
February 28th: Open Night.
· Catering by: Eric Jodouin
The February 28th meeting started off with Denis St. Jean doing a few polished routines, first he did a Black to Red Joker card trick (Colombini’s Jesters), followed by a Dice Tube routine. Denis was on a roll as he featured a Brass Cup routine (Al Cohen’s Quarter Sorter) with an amazing coin production ending. He finished his set off with his version of J.C. Wagner’s Bandorama where a chosen card is expelled from a deck wrapped in elastic bands. Eric Jodouin performed next with Jay Sankey’s Hole in Cards trick. He then showed us a clever way to bring a selected card to the top of the deck; lastly he performed what he called his Drunken Card Routine. Pierre Bourgeau then took centre-stage and did a nice Card Fan Flourish followed by a mentalism card trick. Former club member, Scott Clitsome gave us a visit and presented a manipulating card trick which was ambitious in nature. Chris Pilsworth tried his new effects of a Nose in the Hanky routine followed by the Disappearing Candle. Rob Lavergne did two of his old favourites the Cheating Gambler and the Three Hearts and Ace Routine. John Pert’s guest, John Ha, did a Drawn Card routine adding a great performance of Jay Sankey's Airtight, a card in balloon trick. Brian McAdam gave us a talk on mentalism followed by John Pert with a Bite out of a Card trick. Our last performer of the evening was Réal Boucher who did a beautiful Three Ropes routine.
Catering was provided by Eric Jodouin who made two beautiful pizzas for the gang!
And once again, a great night was had by all.
- By Rob Lavergne
On January 9th Francois Gosselin, Dave Kirkland and Rob Lavergne had the ultimate pleasure of having a private workshop with renowned card master Alan Ackerman.
He was very humble and knowledgeable about his craft. We first spent dinner together learning of both his personal and professional career. It now came down to the task of learning from the master. He showed us moves such as culling cards, reverse spreads, a bottom shuffle, a bottom deal with attitude, a put in place poker deal and stacking a deck.
Included in the lecture were some of his famous routines such as the Vacuum Cleaner effect , Poker Mind Read, a Royal Flush routine , Mayhem Poker , Logical Princess , a Four red / Four black card routine , a King and Queens routine , a Poker Players routine , a double Jacks card maneuver and a trick called Martian Time.
Along with cards he showed us the Money Mates routine, a Rising Coin routine and a Copper Brass and Silver routine.
I found Allan to be very patient, ensuring that we got the moves right and taking time to review and practice. The evening was both entertaining and informative and it was fun to spend time with such a learned individual.
This has been my second workshop the other being with Darwin Ortiz. Allan’s Workshop was very different from his lecture, and I recommend that you try to attend his workshop next time it becomes available.
- By Rob Lavergne
January 10th welcomed Allan Ackerman to our club here in Ottawa. And what a great couple of nights we experienced! Allan held a special workshop the night before, and then presented us with his lecture the following night; both events were very well received. (Allan Ackerman Pictures)
Literally, from the moment he walked in the door, he had an unboxed pack of cards in his hands. This is the first thing I noticed; you really see the passion is his eyes (and hands!) for our craft.
He first taught us a poker deal in which he gave every possible chance to the spectator to win, yet he always managed to come out with the winning hand. He was so certain, no matter what the circumstances were, that he would come out on top, he even wagered his wife! (Oh come on she’ll never read this!)
This was an all card lecture, with the exception of a CD trick called “Bugged” (utilizing card sleights) which was well received by our members.
The lecture included: a clever card to pocket variation, a crazy matching mate trick with a killer finale, the ultimate gesture cut, a version of reset he calls “Kings in the Corner” and a clever false shuffle that made every single member of our club lean forward in awe to get a closer look.
It was a pleasure hosting one of Magic’s legends in our club; we would like to thank Ben Train who made it all possible, thanks again Ben!!! Looking forward to more events like this in the upcoming months.
- By Eric Leclerc
January 24th: The recent cold snap didn’t prevent eleven of our members to show up for our January 24th meeting. This was the first regular meeting I could attend all season and it was a pleasure to reacquaint myself with the magic of some of my fellow ring members.
Chris Pilsworth opened up the evening by demonstrating his latest improvements to some of his routines. Chris really likes to personalize his props by giving them names. After pulling three coins from an invisible purse, Chris demonstrated why his coins are respectively named Elbow, Knee and Neck by making the coins reappear from the respective body parts. Then Chris showed us his poetic side with the help of a match. He then proceeded to confuse all of us with four pom-poms.
Speaking of confusion, yours truly, Jean-Luc Dupont, confused himself with a few card revelations. Fortunately he managed to successfully sort out an even bigger mess with Chinese coins attached to a thread. David Oxley played matchmaker by pairing up two jumbo card halves and concluded by pairing up a series of halves from two previously mixed up piles. Truly a total coincidence!
Big Fella Mark Aronoff did his best to teach his Little Fella, Rob Lavergne a method of cheating with cards. Despite their best effort, Rob was unsuccessful at duplicating Mark’s cheating method and ended up with a losing hand of four Jacks against Mark’s four Aces. Rob Lavergne then tried to uncover the secret of a trick he once saw somebody perform. The performer he observed kept removing three cards from a pile of six. Defying the laws of mathematics, he repeatedly kept ending with six cards. Rob ended up buying the trick but still hasn’t figured it out unexpectedly ending up with one card!
Roy Cottee, our veteran member performed a very clean coin escape that would have rivalled with Houdini’s feats. Braden Root-McCaig triumphed over a deck of cards that ended up changing color. Michel Lemay discovered a selected card in an impossible fashion, a feat that was only equalled by the nice “Nachos with Cheese Dip” he prepared for us as the caterer for the evening.
After the recent series of lectures and special events, it was truly nice to have a cozy evening of magic…
- By Jean-Luc Dupont
Special Report by Eric Leclerc:
Eric Leclerc has written a review of Murray Hatfield’s Magic n’ Miracles Tour, which ran in Ottawa on December 9th and 10th 2006. <Click here for Eric's Review>.
On December 13th we held our annual Christmas Banquet at the Lucky Key Restaurant which was attended by nine of our members and two guests.
This year’s theme was “Group Activities”. The fun started soon after arrival time at 6:00 pm, when several impromptu performances spontaneously manifested themselves. Eric Leclerc put an ordinary Bic Pen through a sequence of magical vanishes and productions and later in the evening demonstrated how he could link Life-Saver candies together and then make them disappear (crunch!). Mark Aronoff showed us several ways to win a free drink with nothing but an empty beer bottle and a place mat and Dave Oxley demonstrated a little gambling game with nothing more than a few beer mats, somehow Dave always won the game.
Once our orders were taken, the members were kept occupied with solving several “Group Riddles”, presented by Eric Leclerc and Mark Aronoff. These riddles exercised our “Lateral Thinking” skills and got everyone involved in finding the correct solutions as a group, by using “Brain Storming” techniques to come up with appropriate “Yes” and “No” type questions.
After dinner, our traditional “Chinese Auction” took place, and gifts were exchanged amongst the attendees.
Mark Aronoff then got everyone out of their chairs by presenting two variations of the “Helium Stick”, a group activity where a group tries to lower a stick to the ground, each person contributing just one finger to the effort. This turns out to be a lot harder than it would seem.
Now that everyone was out of their chairs, a series of “Body Magic” demonstrations were conducted by Jean-Luc Dupont, Chris Pilsworth and Eric Leclerc. Through the “Power of Suggestion”, a spectator was stuck to his chair, another spectator was made to feel an invisible force on his palm, someone else had their index fingers pulled together by nothing more then verbal commands and to top off the evening, under the guidance of Eric Leclerc, Jean-Luc Dupont, the largest one in the group, was lifted several feet off the ground by four members using nothing more then their finger tips.
A fun time was had by all and I’m sure that everyone left the event looking forward towards next year’s surprises.
- By Mark Aronoff
November 2006:
November 1st, became the first meeting night of this month, in order to accommodate the Darwin Ortiz lecture.
On November 1st our club hosted its second lecturer of the year, Darwin Ortiz (Darwin Ortiz Pictures). Mr. Ortiz “WOWED” the audience with several routines from his most recent book, Scams & Fantasies with Cards. Using our own Rob Lavergne and Eric Jodouin’s guest Deborah, as assistants, Darwin proceeded to devastate both the audience and especially the two assisting spectators; Deborah’s honest reactions to the effects were priceless. This was expert card magic performed by a one-of-a-kind performer, which will not be soon forgotten.
Darwin performed and demonstrated:
After the lecture, Darwin stayed a little longer demonstrating some of his riffle-stacking and trick deals that he is famous for. Darwin is not usually on the lecture circuit and this may have been a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see him at the club, but then you never know.
Many thanks to Darwin Ortiz and Ben Train who made this event possible.
- By Mark Aronoff
Our November 22nd club meeting was an open night. Michel Gaudet presented a variation of Darwin Ortiz’s Maximum Risk. Great job, Michel! Mark Aronoff is always impressive with a deck of cards. Once again he amazed us with his combinations of strong effects. Tonight he sequenced Brother Hamman’s Two Shuffles Harry with Martin Nash’s Spinning the Aces and Colors on the March. Roy Cottee baffled us with a packet trick whereby the backs changed colours. Card Warp was the featured trick for Réal Boucher. A volunteer hung a skull overtop a variety of Tarot cards in Brian’s mentalism routine. The skull began to move in a circle pattern which indicated the chosen card. Spooky, very spooky.
Eric Leclerc shared some stories about performing on a cruise ship. This was a new performing venue for Eric, which proved to be a great learning experience. He also presented Razor Burn, his effect published in October’s Genii Magazine. Essentially, a razor magically changes into a pack of matches. Francois Gosselin also shared some stories from a recent stage presentation. Performing on stage is not his typical performing venue, so it was interesting to hear his perspective about this experience. He then had a card chosen and located in the deck at any number called to. A second deck was revealed to show that the chosen card was also located at the chosen number. Coincidence or just strong magic?
Combining ideas from Steve Dacri and Duane Laflin, John Pert performed a silk to egg routine. Chris Pilsworth arrived late from a close-up event so he was ready for action. He shared a variety of routines involving cards, coins, and carpenter pencils. Nicely done, Chris.
Michel Lemay performed a time prediction. Despite some minor hiccups, everything ended with a successful ending. Guest, Braden Root-McCaig successfully located a chosen card. We look forward to seeing more of Braden in the future.
- By John Pert
The October 11th meeting of Ring 151 was a lecture by renowned Magician Shoot Ogawa from Japan (Shoot Ogawa's Pictures). His lecture was both entertaining and informative, a truly memorable night and great fun was had by all.
Shoot demonstrated his work with coins, cards, thimbles and the Ninja Rings. Watching his manipulations had us all gasping and shaking our heads. Shoot was both humble and patient in the explanations of his effects, the sign of a great teacher. He also spent time talking about his “Master” and the philosophy behind his teachings; it reminded me of the movie The Karate Kid, “…wax on wax off.”
Shoot charmed us all with his skill and humor through out the lecture, just to watch his performance was worth coming out for the night. Shoot’s “post lecture” discussion was a further example of his dedication to the craft. He spent hours talking to everybody and giving tips that might have been missed during the lecture.
Thanks again Shoot for an absolutely wonderful evening!
- By Rob Lavergne
The October 25th meeting was cancelled to allow members to go to see Mentalist Marc Salem’s performance at the Centerpointe Theatre here in Ottawa.
Marc conducted his show in a very gentlemanly, intelligent and humorous style; he had full audience participation and kept us captivated from beginning to end, while he apparently controlled our behaviors and read our minds. This was a real lesson in professional performance, routining and audience management.
Marc very graciously spent some time with the club member’s, after his performance, to say hello and chat with us a bit.
Marc’s a real pro and I recommend you catch his show if you can.
- By Mark Aronoff
Another season of magic has begun under the direction of Chris Pilsworth, the 2006-2007 club President. Mark Aronoff has taken on the duties of Vice President while Jacko Marshal and John Pert continue their respective roles as treasurer and secretary. Dave Oxley is our Past President and Rob Lavergne is our new Ring Reporter.
A late congratulations to Dave Kirkland (and his wife) who had a baby girl in May of 2006. Chris Pilsworth participated in a creativity panel discussion at the Montreal Magic Jam. This event was well attended and Chris’ contributions were well received. We are happy to see Roy Cottee back in action.
A couple of impressive lectures are booked for October (Shoot Ogawa) and November (Darwin Ortiz). We anxiously await their arrival. Many members are equally excited to attend Marc Salem’s Mind Games at the Centerpointe Theatre here in Ottawa.
September 13th, the first meeting of the year, was attended by Steve Duperre, Pierre Bourgeau, Dave Oxley, Denis St. Jean, Mark Aronoff, Réal Boucher, Jacko Marshall, Luc Lafleur, Pierre Trottier, John Pert, and Roy Cottee. Everyone had the chance to remove the rust from a summer of rest and relaxation. Special guests, Obie O’Brien and Joan Caesar stopped by to visit and promote the IBM/SAM convention in 2008 and CAM in June 2007. Conversation and magic was enjoyed by all. Thanks, Mark, for providing the club with our evening snack.
- By John Pert
September 27th was our annual Memorial Night Magic where members are encouraged to perform a trick from someone who has passed away. Chris Pilsworth was sly with Slydini’s Linking Pins. He also brought ice cream treats for everyone. Thanks, Chris. Mark Aronoff presented Derek Dingle’s Fantastic Eleven Card Trick; Roy Cottee shared a coin routine (by Bob Carver) from Bobo’s Coin Magic book. Roy then provided some history about Bob and the Professor’s Nightmare. Vernon’s Cups and Balls was presented by Dave Oxley, and John Pert performed Billy McComb’s Half-Dyed Silks. Francois Gosselin showed us some of his new gaffed cards purchased from Ellusionists. We expect Francios’ creativity over the next few meetings will include these cards.
Guests:
Michel Lemay and Marcel St. Jean attended their first meeting as guests of RING 151. Michel presented Virginia Shuffle and Marcel performed Coin in Pop Can. We look forward to seeing more of them in the future.
- By John Pert
Copyright 2006
Ottawa Society of Magicians, Roy Cottee Ring 151 of the International
Brotherhood of Magicians